By Reagan Hoverman

On Sunday, Aug. 14, River Falls Fighting Fish pitcher Jake Lindsay produced one of the best pitching performances of his life.

Lindsay couldn’t have timed it any better, as his complete-game shutout victory sent the River Falls Fighting Fish to the 2022 Wisconsin Baseball Association (WBA) State Tournament just two years removed from a state championship in 2020.

Before that Sunday afternoon victory against the Sparta Miller, River Falls played on Friday, Aug. 12, against the Interwald Woodticks in the opening game of the play- ous. The Fighting Fish took care of that game early and defeated the visiting Woodticks 14-0 in just seven innings of work to advance to the Sunday game against Sparta.

River Falls Fighting Fish ace pitcher Lindsay took to the mound and began dealing early and often against the Miller. It wasn’t until the fourth inning that Sparta notched its first hit of the game against Lindsay.

The Fighting Fish ouense got on board in the bottom of the first inning when noted power hitter Spencer Diedrich nuked a solo home run over the left field fence to make it 1-0 in favor of River Falls.

The Fish added another run in the bottom of the fourth inning when Kyle Fritz roped a ball down the left field line that scored Ragan Pinnow from second base to make it 2-0 in favor of the Fish. River Falls added two in- surance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it 4-0 and essentially put the game on ice with the way that Lindsay was dealing.

By the time Lindsay retired the final Mill er batter in the top of the ninth inning with a groundout, he had secured a complete-game shutout that included four hits, only one walk and 10 strikeouts in the 4-0 victory. River Falls player/manager Josh Eidem spoke about Lindsay’s afternoon on the mound.

“Jake (Lindsay) just seems to thrive in pressure situations, it’s like he takes it all personally,” Eidem said. “He just put us on his back today. He’s our number one for a reason and you just know he’s going to throw strikes.”

While the starting pitching carried the Fighting Fish to the 2022 State Tournament, the game was close because River Falls had to scrap for runs against a good Sparta pitch-

See FIGHTING FISH, Page B-3

River Falls Fighting Fish pitcher Jake Lindsay throws a pitch during his complete-game shutout against the Sparta Millers on Sunday, Aug. 14. Lindsay tallied 10 strikeouts and allowed only four hits during the 4-0 victory that sent the Fighting Fish to the 2022 WBA State Tournament.

Photo by Reagan Hoverman

The River Falls Fighting Fish roster, coaching staff and ball boys gather together for a celebratory photo after going 2-0 at the River Falls Regional to advance to the 2022 WBA State Tournament.

Photo by Reagan Hoverman Fighting Fish

from Page 1

er. Eidem spoke about facing good compe- tition as his roster continues its playou run.

“We really had to earn it today,” Eidem said. “You want to face some good teams and earn your way there. Sparta threw a real good starting pitcher out of La Crosse and we had a tough job today. We will take a win any way we can get it, but the ways we’re tested throughout the year when it gets tough in the next round, those are the experiences you rely on.”

Eidem stated that his Fighting Fish is one of the few teams on the western side of the state that has multiple ace-caliber starting pitchers in the aforementioned Lindsay and Kyle Fritz. He stated that both of them are bulldog-like players who will pound the strike zone and attack opposing batters.

While it may seem as if River Falls has cruised through the 2022 season to a State Tournament berth, that’s not exactly accurate. In the dog days of summer, the Fish lost three games in a row and tension began building in the locker room. Eidem spoke about a meeting they had that relieved tension and got the team back on track.

“We had a couple of tough losses in the middle of the year and we made a conscious decision – we had some good team conversation and really tried to focus on us and not the umpires or another team chirping,” Eidem said. “It’s a really positive, focus on each other and focus on self (environment) which is probably one of those life success types of things.”

River Falls has played 19-2 baseball since that pivotal meeting amid the three-game losing streak in June. Now, the Fighting Fish is on the doorstep of another state championship victory. River Falls went into the 2022 WBA postseason with the #5 overall seed and suddenly, they’re one of the two favorites to bring home the state title.

Multiple upsets happened throughout the state and since the tournament will be reseeded, River Falls has a compelling case to be the #1 seed going into the 2022 State Tournament this weekend. Notable upsets include #1 overall seed Wisconsin Rapids, the #2 seed Everest Merchants and the #3 seed Holmen Features all getting knocked out at Regionals.

The only two teams ranked in the top five remaining in the playous are the #4 Tilden Tigers and the #5 River Falls Fighting Fish. Multiple long shot teams punched their ticket to the state tournament through those upsets including the #25 Brill Millers, the #27 Wausau River Hawks and the #30 Haugen Knights.

The River Falls Fighting Fish roster and their faithful fans anxiously await the reseeding of the State Tournament bracket, which is slated to happen late Monday, Aug. 15, which will determine if the Fish are the #1 or the #2 seed for the remainder of the playous.